To do a Masters while working full time as a lone parent?

Its too much to do a full time job and a full time masters, why not do the masters part time? You could stretch it over 2-3 years and everything would be much more manageable. If you found it easier than expected in the first semester, you could pick up more modules in the next one.

I fully support people going back into education but 40 hours a week of study on top of a full-time job without two children would be very very difficult. As a single parent it sounds like insanity!

If you can do it over 2 years that will be so much less stressful and isn't much longer in the long run.

Best of luck!

That's less than half the 40 hours. Realistically life gets in the way and you won't be studying 10 hours a day both days of a weekend, even if you did manage 3 hours 4x a week as well. I'd definitely consider splitting over 2 years instead.

Yes, my kids were younger 4 and 7 - so I did have the early bedtimes which made it easier in the evenings but still it meant a lot of 3am finishes….and work the next day

As I come to the end of my professional qualifications that have taken 2.5 years, I suggest going for it. Depending on age, you may still have between 25-30 working years left

You will be showing your children what dedication, hard work and learning looks like. You will be a great role model for them in working towards bettering yourself. You may also be showing them if they study early in life, they won’t have to later on

I won’t sugar coat it, it’s been incredibly hard the last couple of years. More so this year as I enter the hardest level of exams. Whilst I’m in a relationship with my DD’s dad, I honestly think it would be easier to study being single. I still do the majority of the house and childcare, all the life admin and work full time alongside learning, but having to give time to another adult who can clearly see what a huge impact extra learning is having on my life (especially around crunch times of exams) and not stepping up, has left a big dose of resentment in the relationship

Not gonna happen. You have too much going on.

I am halfway through a two year, part time masters, working full time with two DCs (older than yours and near enough completely independent) and not a single parent.
I am managing ok but it can be a lot at times and I have to very organised to fit everything in. Group tasks are a pain as fellow students always want to leave things to the last minute when I can't always do that if I have work commitments.

I think trying to do it in one year is too ambitious with everything else you've got going on. Can you do it over two?

I did it and it was pretty gruesome. Lots of very very late nights and early mornings.

You can do it, but genuinely it’s a really really hard slog

40 hours per week is a second full time job. Over a week, that averages nearly six hours per day. I don’t think that’s feasible in reality.

Can you write out what your weekly schedule might look like with your masters programme included? (Not necessarily here, if you don’t want to. But I think that would help you see if it fits in.)

That’s what I’m doing but as day release from work over 2 years (fully paid my salary and course costs so no financial impact). I’m also a single parent.
It’s a lot to take on and I’m managing ok doing 6-8 hours per week. Over the next month I’ll have to do a bit more which will be a stretch but I can make it work.
There’s no way I’d add an extra 40 hour commitment on top of a full time job and looking after my family/home/having a social life to do it in 12 months. Think very carefully before you commit to this. It could lead to burnout and a significant impact on your physical and mental health.
I appreciate the driver to get it done quickly, but will you be able to do it well and take on board the learning with everything else in your life?

Yeah they do - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/course/taught/psychology-conversion-msc-distance. It's fully accredited and takes 2 years. All online.

You'll be fine, just do it part time over 2 years. Majority of masters tend to be online as people work full time unless placement required. I seen quite few Russell Group uni e.g. Nottingham offer fully online MSc Psychology (Conversion) and its accredited too.

I did my masters part time over 2 years as a lone parent with 2 kids working full time. I couldn’t have done it in a year, if you can do it part time I would otherwise I think it’s going to be really hard and exhausting for you

I have children of a similar age and I’ve definitely noticed I have a lot more spare time than I used to but not sure I have 40 hours per week of spare time. Even if you did 4 hours per night 7-11 then you
still need to do 10 hours on each of Sat and Sun. I note you have school hols but do they fall at the right times
to be helpful?

Your DC are old enough to be fairly independent, but do you have someone to look after the house? (A cleaner?) Are you going to be able to get them to any extracurriculars they want to do, and be present and supportive for them? Or are you just planning on not sleeping for a year?

Sorry no, I’m at UoNotts and they have a psych dept but also clinical psychology in the school of medicine, so wondered if it was either of those. Not sure if they do msc though